scholarly journals Role of Microalgae in Global CO2 Sequestration: Physiological Mechanism, Recent Development, Challenges, and Future Prospective

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (23) ◽  
pp. 13061
Author(s):  
Ravindra Prasad ◽  
Sanjay Kumar Gupta ◽  
Nisha Shabnam ◽  
Carlos Yure B. Oliveira ◽  
Arvind Kumar Nema ◽  
...  

The rising concentration of global atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) has severely affected our planet’s homeostasis. Efforts are being made worldwide to curb carbon dioxide emissions, but there is still no strategy or technology available to date that is widely accepted. Two basic strategies are employed for reducing CO2 emissions, viz. (i) a decrease in fossil fuel use, and increased use of renewable energy sources; and (ii) carbon sequestration by various biological, chemical, or physical methods. This review has explored microalgae’s role in carbon sequestration, the physiological apparatus, with special emphasis on the carbon concentration mechanism (CCM). A CCM is a specialized mechanism of microalgae. In this process, a sub-cellular organelle known as pyrenoid, containing a high concentration of Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase (Rubisco), helps in the fixation of CO2. One type of carbon concentration mechanism in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and the association of pyrenoid tubules with thylakoids membrane is represented through a typical graphical model. Various environmental factors influencing carbon sequestration in microalgae and associated techno-economic challenges are analyzed critically.

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (9) ◽  
pp. 178-195
Author(s):  
Aliyu Alhaji Jibrilla

This study empirically evaluates whether Green House Gases (GHGs) significantly increase with the rising population and urban growth in Nigeria. In addition, the study examine whether the energy demand also influences Nigerian contribution of global pollution emissions. The results of the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) cointegration test indicated long-run and stable relationships among the variables. For affluence, we find evidence that, in the long run, domestic per capita income significantly increases carbon dioxide emissions and then falls after a certain extreme point, providing evidence of an inverted EKC hypothesis in Nigeria. The EKC finding was further supported by appropriate inverted U test. The results also demonstrated that both urbanisation and population change do not have a long term effect on emissions; although urbanisation seems to significantly raise emissions in the short-run.  Energy demand has been found to have a significantly positive elasticity effect on carbon dioxide emissions both in the long- and short-run. The short-run Granger causality results indicate that, all variables make a short-run adjustment to correct any deviation from the long-run equilibrium. In addition, analysis of the error correction models reveals that all of the variables contribute to their stable long-run relationship.


Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 1513 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arkadiusz Dyjakon ◽  
Daniel García-Galindo

The use of new sources of biomass residues for energy purposes in Europe is crucial for increasing the share of renewable energy sources and the limitation of carbon dioxide emissions. The residues coming from regular pruning of permanent crops are an alternative to conventional fuels. The paper is focused on the assessment of European pruning potentials in European Union (EU28) in line with the nomenclature of territorial units (NUTs) at NUTs0, NUTs2 and NUTs3 level. The assessment indicates that the yearly theoretical and technical potential of that biomass is 13.67 MtDM (or 252.0 PJ·yr−1) and 12.51 MtDM (or 230.6 PJ·yr−1), respectively. The economic potential has been assessed based on different management or exploitation models: management of pruning as a waste, self-consumption, and demand-driven mobilisation by consumption centres at small, medium and large scales. The utilisation of pruning when gathering is compulsory coincides with the technical potential. Under self-consumption, up to 10.98 MtDM per year could be effectively mobilised (202.3 PJ·yr−1). The creation of new value chains for delivery of pruning biomass ranges 7.30 to 8.69 MtDM per year (from 134.5 to 160.2 PJ·yr−1). When applying further constraints related to other existing uses the implementation of the potential further descends, ranging from 6.18 to 10.66 MtDM per year (from 113.9 to 196.4 PJ·yr−1). The analysis shows that the amount of available pruning residues is regionally scattered; however, most of them (ca. 80%) are located in the Mediterranean area.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 2117-2121

The Intergovernmental Panel on climate changes have concluded that- Most paths to halting global temperature increases at 2 degrees and every way to decrease it to 1.5 degrees depend on adopting methods of sucking CO2 from the sky. “CO2 removal has gone from a moral hazard to a moral imperative," says Julio Fried Mann senior research scholar at the Center for Global Energy Policy at Columbia University. There are many industries emitting the flue gases which include steam, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon dioxide. One such industry which emits carbon dioxide is cement industry. A single cement industry accounts for around 5 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions. Concrete is the second most widely used material on earth after the water. Concrete is used for wide range of applications like construct buildings, bridges, roads, runways, sidewalks, and dams. So, here’s the concrete with zeolite powder and zeolite sand that captures the carbon dioxide from the ambient air and reduces the atmospheric carbon dioxide making it eco-friendly. Also addition of zeolite to the concrete improves the mechanical strength of the concrete. It is more durable than the ordinary Portland cement. In this review paper, we will discuss the performance and properties of concrete incorporated with zeolite.


Author(s):  
Aleksandra Siudek ◽  
Anna M. Klepacka

The article is an attempt to estimate the potential of reduction carbon dioxide emissions using microinstallation of renewable energy sources (RES) in single-family housing. Based on the energy demand of the building, statistical data including the average number of single-family buildings built per year and the average area of a single-family building, the forecasted national annual reduction of carbon dioxide emissions resulting from the implementation of microinstallations in single-family buildings was calculated. The research results indicated an annual reduction of carbon dioxide emissions resulting from the use of selected RES microinstallations only in the single-family housing sector at the level of 230,000 t/year.


Author(s):  
Peter Rez

Energy policy should start with an analysis of what physics and engineering say is possible, followed by an analysis of economics, and not be driven by mandates that favour renewable energy sources. In practice, it is very hard to make renewables such as solar and wind work, owing to their intermittency, and so widespread adoption might not lead to any reduction in carbon dioxide emissions, as demonstrated by the German ‘Energiewende’. To reduce carbon dioxide emissions, all base load electrical demand should be generated by nuclear power, as in France. To cut down on energy requirements, industrial countries should transition from a ‘throwaway society’ to a ‘repair’ society, and people should cut down on travel and meat consumption.


Author(s):  
Curtis Wettstein

As of November 2007, 174 parties had ratified the Kyoto protocol signifying a large part of the solution to one of the worlds primary environmental problems; carbon dioxide emissions. Although the United States refused to sign the protocol, their neighbours in Canada were eager to address the issue and sign. However with oil being a major Canadian export, carbon dioxide emission reduction was arguably improbable and unprofitable. With the pressure of reducing carbon dioxide emissions an imminent, carbon sequestration may be the symbiotic solution in satisfying Kyoto, saving the environment and even increasing profitability. Carbon sequestration is the process where carbon dioxide is injected into an oil well in order to increase recovery. With tertiary oil recoveries driving much of the oil business, cheap and efficient recovery methods are invaluable. Presently there is a Canadian operation in Wayburn, Saskatchewan which employs the technique. In addition, Texas and Scandinavian oil companies are using Carbon dioxide injection. If carbon sequestration increases oil recovery it has to be the preferred method. By purchasing carbon dioxide from external sources and recycling their own, companies can reduce emissions while increasing profits. Finally it may be profitable to save the environment. 


Author(s):  
Jon Gluyas ◽  
Lee Thompson ◽  
Dave Allen ◽  
Charlotte Benton ◽  
Paula Chadwick ◽  
...  

Carbon capture and storage is a transition technology from a past and present fuelled by coal, oil and gas and a planned future dominated by renewable energy sources. The technology involves the capture of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel power stations and other point sources, compression of the CO 2 into a fluid, transporting it and injecting it deep beneath the Earth's surface into depleted petroleum reservoirs and other porous formations. Once injected, the CO 2 must be monitored to ensure that it is emplaced and assimilated as planned and that none leaks back to surface. A variety of methods have been deployed to monitor the CO 2 storage site and many such methods have been adapted from oilfield practice. However, such methods are commonly indirect, episodic, require active signal generation and remain expensive throughout the monitoring period that may last for hundreds of years. A modelling framework was developed to concurrently simulate CO 2 geostorage conditions and background cosmic-ray muon tomography, in which the potential was assessed for using variations in muon attenuation, due to changes in CO 2 abundance, as a means of CO 2 detection. From this, we developed a passive, continuous monitoring method for CO 2 storage sites using muon tomography, the tools for which can be deployed during the active drilling phase (development) of the storage site. To do this, it was necessary to develop a muon detector that could be used in the hostile environment (saline, high temperature) of the well bore. A prototype detector has been built and tested at the 1.1 km deep Boulby potash mine on the northeast coast of England, supported by the existing STFC Boulby Underground Laboratory on the site. The detector is now ready to be commercialized. This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue ‘Cosmic-ray muography’.


Author(s):  
Paul Breeze

Burning coal to generate electricity is one of the key sources of atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions; so, targeting coal-fired power plants offers one of the easiest ways of reducing global carbon emissions. Given that the world's largest economies all rely heavily on coal for electricity production, eliminating coal combustion is not an option. Indeed, coal consumption is likely to increase over the next 20–30 years. However, the introduction of more efficient steam cycles will improve the emission performance of these plants over the short term. To achieve a reduction in carbon emissions from coal-fired plant, however, it will be necessary to develop and introduce carbon capture and sequestration technologies. Given adequate investment, these technologies should be capable of commercial development by ca 2020.


2001 ◽  
Vol 77 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald A. Tuskan ◽  
Marie E. Walsh

Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) are increasing along with global use of fossil fuels and worldwide rates of deforestation. These trends have led international panels and organizations to devise carbon management strategies in an effort to curb increases in CO2. The goal of this paper is to explore the potential role of short-rotation woody crops (SRWC) in the U.S. as one option in a carbon-managed future economy. On a scale of 40 × 106 ha, and at an average productivity rate of 21 Mg oven-dry biomass ha−1 yr−1, SRWC systems could account for an average of 0.30 Pg of C yr−1 when prorated over the 50-year deployment life of a typical SRWC system. Most of the accounted carbon (76%) would come from fossil fuel displacement as opposed to direct carbon sequestration. The proportion of accounted carbon associated with fossil fuel displacement increases with longer time frames due to the relatively rapid saturation of the carbon sequestration pool. Key words: Populus, biomass, carbon sequestration, carbon displacement, Kyoto Protocol, CO2


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